laurarhe - Fundamentals of Teaching Spring

4/22 Class Notes

Wrap-ups:
Rubric for a wrap-up
Connects to lesson:

Review or summarize
Emphasizes purpose of lesson; may review or summarize
Analysis of ideas; connection to big ideas

Student participation

Teacher talks
Some students participate
Most or all students participate either verbally or nonverbally

Opportunity for students to think critically

Asks students to articulate knowledge
Asks students to articulate understanding; transfer knowledge; identify big ideas
Opportunities for students to make connections; apply knowledge to new situations; pose questions

Connection to past or future lessons
Extending learning beyond class period
Student participation
Allows students to articulate knowledge, understanding, synthesis or analysis
Connects to the lesson: review or summarize
Emphasizes purpose of lesson; connects to big ideas
Provide students with feedback of learning

My Unit performance assessment: the goal is to connect to the big ideas, and allow students to articulate their understanding of the text by applying their understanding to a new situation.

4/15 Class Notes

Standards for class work: Spelling homework. Students are expected to abide by the rules of grammar, structure, spelling, meaning, and any other language skills needed to complete the assignment. This assignment was to write an unforgettable letter to me, their teacher (connected to an assignment given to the characters in a guided reading book we are doing this year). I also allowed for the students to email me their spelling homework.
For a hand-written letter: Date in upper, right-hand corner. Skip a space, Dear So-and-so, skip a space, paragraphs, capitalization,

3/25 Class Notes

Parent involvement: Renee joins our class today to talk about parent involvement

3/11 Class Notes

Reading on Rubrics : Interesting article, good insights about how to create an effective and purposeful rubric.
Rubric for a handshake:
Strength
Firmness
Hand shape
Hand position
Hand movement
Length of shake
Eye contact
Equal force
Facial expression

Strategies to build effective relationships with parents:
Newsletter each month
Visiting students' homes
Open house day where students with parents can get a sneak peek of the classroom
Ask parents for help/volunteering
Friday Letter -- students write home to their parents every Friday, which gets read and signed.

2/25 Class Notes

Accountable talk:

to the learning community
to knowledge
to rigorous reasoning--allow for challenging

Talk moves:

say more about that
do you agree/disagree
who can repeat what John just said
why do you think that?
what's your evidence
so, are you saying... ?

You need to have:

something good to talk about, challenging tasks or texts
moves should be used skillfully

2/11 Class Notes

Lea's lesson: Persuasive letter writing

Questions: can they write about wanting a dog? Do they have to choose something different? Suggestion: students will have to pick another topic because they might copy your sample letter
10 minutes for brainstorming? I think it's too much. I think they should write down three ideas of what they want to ask their parents for. Then, they should choose the one they want the most, or the one they are most likely to get. And then they brainstorm by writing down 3 reasons why they should get it.
How persuasive is your reason? Might be reworded: Do you think your parents will want to give you _ if you say that getting it will ___ ? Ex. I want the new Xbox game because it looks like it will be fun. A persuasive reason is one that your parents will agree with, or they will understand how getting this thing will be a good thing, not just for you but for everyone.

1/28 Class Notes

Laliv's lesson plan: Guided reading lesson. Teaching to one student because his reading level is well above the others.

1/7 Class Notes

Revisitng the norms for this class:

Discussion norms:
- be open to different opinions
- inquire
- ask questions when you don't understand
- peers and teachers hear and respect each other's ideas
- eye contact
- respond to ideas: support, challenge, question, make connections
- make time for everyone to hear and have a voice
- everyone should have opportunities to articulate and listen
- be aware of your own air time (should you speak up, or should you hold back?)
- free-flowing (like milk and honey) discussions (no need to raise hands)
Humor
Confidentiality
Timeliness
Communicate clear expectations
Use computers appropriately

Course preview:

Planning and teaching the unit
Teacher research
Class structure: bring in a plan, and class discusses how to improve upon it.

Lesson plans: questions

Will lessons be stronger with a big idea, connected to the rest of the curriculum?
What makes a good big idea?
How big should it be?

Integration:
Different levels of curricular integration?

single disciplines
several disciplines
within and across learners

Integration of Jewish and general studies:

can lead to competition of Jewish and secular worlds
cross-curricular knowledge, importance of balancing specific content knowledge, and knowledge of other content areas

A Wikipedia entry about "interdisciplinary teaching" which is another label for curricular integration within the larger education community.
Information about integration between general studies and Jewish studies. "Why Integrate?" and "What is Integration? "

1/14 Class Notes

What did we notice about elements of recitation and discussion in our class talk?
I-R-E

Initiation: asking a question
Response: students responds
Evaluation: Teacher acknowledges or evaluates the response
can stop a conversation dead in its tracks

1/19 Class Notes

Teacher research

can be on a spectrum: formal to informal
teacher research falls somewhere in between

Fundamentals of Teaching Spring